Market Activity in January outgained same month in 2024

January’s housing activity showed both new listings and closed sales outgained the same month a year ago. Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) data for the month showed new listings jumped 35.1% and closed sales rose 10.8% compared to January 2024.

In King County, new listings surged 35% while in Kittitas County they more than doubled. Prices for sales that closed in King County were up more than 5% versus the system-wide figure of 3.6%. Kittitas County reported a drop in prices (down about 10.7%).

“For sale inventories are continuing to rise from historical lows, and that’s helping bring some life to housing market activity in the NWMLS area,” said Selma Hepp, chief economist at CoreLogic.

The NWMLS reported 2.75 months of inventory overall across the 26 counties it serves. King County had about the same figure (2.54 months); Kittitas County had 4.9 months.

Questions still abound regarding affordability, NWMLS stated in its report, noting it’s a critical aspect of today’s market. Both political and economic factors influence affordability, the listing service acknowledged.

Steven Bourassa, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research (WCRER) at the University of Washington, said rising prices and interest rates have a negative effect on affordability. Interest rates were higher at the end of January (6.95%) than a year ago (6.69%).

“Moreover, new immigration policies are expected to have an inflationary impact on home construction costs,” Bourassa remarked, citing warnings about tariffs from the National Association of Home Builders. “All of this suggests that the affordability of homeownership, which has been declining, will continue to do so.”

In a statement, NAHB’s chairman said the proposed tariffs would be “an additional strain on a housing market already facing affordability challenges.”

“Stability and certainty are essential for American businesses, consumers, and the strength of our economy. We urge all parties to remain committed to productive dialogue to prevent new tariffs on construction materials critical to housing our nation,” said NAHB Chairman Carl Harris, a custom home builder from Wichita, Kansas.

Among other statistics in the MLS report summarizing January’s activity were:

• Total active inventory surged 44.6% from a year ago.
• Keyboxes at listed properties were accessed 115,922 times in January. That marks a 40% increase from December and a 10% YOY rise.
• The total number of property showings scheduled through NWMLS-provided software increased 57% compared to December and 7% versus January2024.
• The dollar value of closed sales in January totaled $2,849,045,495, up 17.4% when compared to twelve months ago. Of the total, residential sales accounted for $2,471,486,679, or nearly 87%.
• The median price for single family homes that closed during January was $625,000; for condos it was $547,000.